If Finch is the best coach in franchise history the late Flip Saunders is the most beloved. He made his mark on the organization during it’s previous heyday, and he hailed from Minnesota as well.

Flip’s influence and personality was so ingrained in the franchise that it didn’t feel totally outlandish when his son, Ryan Saunders, took over as head coach in 2018 following years of assistant work. He took his lumps, but remains among the best assistants in the league, and he continues to find opportunities.

Ryan Saunders headed to Memphis Grizzlies

The Minnesota Timberwolves employed Ryan Saunders for parts of three seasons as their head coach. After he was fired during the 2020-21 season, Saunders landed an assistant gig with the Denver Nuggets. He’s changing teams again, and this time heads to Memphis.

Breaking: The Grizzlies are hiring Ryan Saunders as the lead assistant coach under Tuomas Iisalo, per sources.

Saunders comes with previous head coaching experience. He won a championship with the Nuggets as an assistant in 2023.

— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) July 14, 2025

The Grizzlies will be the fourth franchise Saunders has coached with. He spent five years in Washington before his eight in Minnesota. The 2025-26 season will be Saunders’ 17th season employed at the NBA level.

Saunders coached 137 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves and finished with a 43-94 record. It was a tough time of transition for the franchise, and Saunders probably needed a better situation. His first season with the Denver Nuggets, back in the assistant ranks, culminated with a 53-29 record including an NBA Championship.

After winning a ring, Saunders remained on the Nuggets coaching staff for each of the past two seasons under head coach Mike Malone. Somewhat shockingly though, Denver fired Malone with a 47-32 record last season just before the playoffs. This left Saunders’ status up in the air.

Related: Timberwolves Pup Proving He’s Too Good for NBA Summer League

He now joins a Memphis Grizzlies team that, like Denver, surprisingly fired Taylor Jenkins with a 44-29 record just before the playoffs. They turned the team over to Tuomas Lisalo, and Saunders is joining him as the top assistant.

The Grizzlies will be looking for a different identity in the year ahead. They have traded Desmond Bane this offseason in a June blockbuster, and presumably Ja Morant could be moved as well. Saunders will look to bring a steadying presence under Lisalo. His work as a head coach, and experience winning it all, should help to ease the transition.

Similarly to the Memphis Grizzles firing of Taylor Jenkins a couple of weeks ago, the Nuggets sent shockwaves through NBA circles Tuesday when ownership fired both Malone and GM Calvin Booth, just two years removed from an NBA Finals win and fresh off six-straight Western Conference Finals appearances or better.

Full clean out: The Denver Nuggets are also firing general manager Calvin Booth, sources tell ESPN. Michael Malone and Booth both out today. pic.twitter.com/FvqOAFyOKy

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2025

Minnesota Timberwolves former assistant promoted in Denver after Nuggets clean house

Denver could have gone a couple of different directions in the “post-Malone” era (no pun intended). In fact, the Nuggets had two former Minnesota Timberwolves coaches to choose from. David Adelman — a former Wolves assistant and son of former head coach Rick Adelman — was the final choice, over former Minnesota head coach, Ryan Saunders, who remains on Adelman’s staff, at least for now.

Malone was hired as the head coach for Denver prior to the 2015 season. He owned a 798-471 record across 10 seasons walking the Nuggets’ sideline. Entering the day, Denver is 4th in an incredibly tight Western Conference playoff picture.

The Denver Nuggets have relieved Head Coach Michael Malone of his duties and will not extend General Manager Calvin Booth.

David Adelman will assume our head coaching role for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Full Release: https://t.co/d176KtKK5w pic.twitter.com/dMYlxIqoCl

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 8, 2025

Michael Malone was originally hired by now Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, who ran the Nuggets from 2013-2022 as GM and eventually PoBO, before Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore called him up and convinced him to switch Western Conference allegiances.

Calvin Booth, who was also fired today, worked under Connell from 2017-2020, and was promoted when his former boss left. Even more intriguing, Calvin Booth worked for the Timberwolves front office from 2013-2017, before leaving for Denver.

Nuggets choose David Adelman over Ryan Saunders

Adelman began his professional career as a player development coach for the MN Timberwolves back in 2011. He was with Minnesota for five seasons, before stopping in Orlando, then Denver, where he has spent the past eight seasons on Malone’s staff.

It will be up to the 43-year-old former assistant — with zero head coaching experience — to guide Denver into and through what Nuggets fans hope will be another deep postseason run. Last year, the Timberwolves downed the Nuggets in an epic seven-game series that thwarted their repeat attempt. It’s very plausible that the two teams see each other again this spring, maybe even in the first round.

Former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders is also on the Nuggets staff. Despite previous head coaching experience, he was passed over as the replacement for Malone. Saunders started his career in Washington as an assistant and joined his dad Flip in Minnesota.

Related: Confirmed: Timberwolves’ Trade Interest in NBA Superstar is Mutual

Saunders took over the lead role in Minnesota to start the 2018 season. His dad had died three years earlier, and the franchise continued to watch Ryan grow on his own. Unfortunately, as a head coach, Saunders led the Timberwolves to a 43-94 record across three seasons.

Given the amount of youth on his side, it’s likely that Saunders will land another head coaching gig at some point. There was some talk he could be in play for the Minnesota Gophers position, but wisely Mark Coyle grabbed an experienced Niko Medved instead.

But this world is far from perfect, just like Ben Johnson’s head coaching record, and the 2024-25 Gophers men’s basketball team is proof of that. Entering Monday, Minnesota is sitting at the bottom of the Big Ten, as the only team remaining (0-5) without a conference victory (8-8 overall).

If only Ben could schedule FCS and DII schools all season. Unfortunately for him, that’s not how it works in arguably the deepest conference in college basketball. Eventually, you have to play with the big boys and this team does not have the talent or coaching to do that.

Ben Johnson’s firing is near… but who replaces him?

I’ve said it before and I will note it again here, the Minnesota Gophers may not win a Big Ten game all season. If that were to happen, maybe the angry DMs and emails from U of M alumni and Ben Johnson apologists will stop…

Thankfully, those people do not hold the final decision. More than likely, after yet another season that will go down as one of the worst in Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball history, Ben Johnson will be relieved of his head coaching duties.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Fans and Media Need to Stop Making Excuses for Ben Johnson

At that point, it won’t matter who has his back. This program is in such bad shape — and it’ll be even worse two months from now — that not even his most dedicated and powerful supporters will be able to object against his firing.

When that happens, who will be the Minnesota Gophers next head basketball coach? There are a lot of proven college basketball coaches who have had interest in the Gophers men’s head coaching job before, going all the way back to Richard Pitino’s initial hiring.

This time around, it’s already been reported that usual contenders Craig Smith (Utah), Niko Medved (Colorado State) and former Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders all have interest, among others. And guess what, only one of those names has ZERO collegiate coaching experience and ZERO success at the one level he did coach.

Minnesota Gophers alumni and select boosters want Ryan Saunders

Yet, according to a report over the weekend from Charley Walters (Pioneer Press), University of Minnesota “alumni and select boosters” have already set their sights on Ryan Saunders, who played two seasons at the University of Minnesota from 2004 to 2006 and went 43-94 as an NBA head coach in three seasons from 2018 to 2021.

Alumni and assorted boosters are pushing Ryan Saunders, the ex-Gopher who is an assistant for the Denver Nuggets, for the Gophers head job if there is a coaching change at season’s end.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

It doesn’t surprise me that the University of Minnesota alumni and “select” boosters want Ryan Saunders to be the next hire for the Golden Gophers men’s team. This is the same group that demanded athletic director Mark Coyle hire Ben Johnson, after Richard Pitino was fired. Ryan is a great guy, but in no way is he the best or most qualified candidate interested in this job.

But we are talking about a group of alumni and boosters who only care about one thing, and it’s “one of us”. If someone did not go to school at the U of M and/or grow up in the state of Minnesota, there is no amount of winning that would make them support that coach. Which is why these “alumni and select boosters” should never be allowed a say in head coaching hires.

Has Minnesota AD Mark Coyle learned his lesson?

Hopefully, after one failed round of allowing “alumni and select boosters” to choose the head men’s basketball coach (yes that is how Ben got the job) Coyle is smart enough to ignore them. Remember, our athletic director’s expertise, upon arrival, was basketball.

Related: Local Insider Floats the “Logical Choice” for Next Gophers MBB Head Coach

He was in the AD office at Kentucky and Syracuse when those schools were making National Championship runs. He made a smart football hire, with PJ Fleck, but basketball is supposed to be his bread and butter.

Everyone needs to let him make the hire and live or die with the consequences. Get the alumni out of his ear before they screw things up yet again. Because Minnesota Gophers fans do not care where the next coach hails from. We just miss March Madness.

With yesterday’s win, Minnesota moved to 7-5 on the season. All seven of their wins have come against FCS level schools, or worse. And some of those victories were by the skin of their teeth, like beating Omaha by four points, and Central Michigan by three.

In both early conference games — vs Michigan St (72-90) and Indiana (67-82) — the Minnesota Gophers were blown out by 15+ points. They also fell to both Wake Forest and Wichita State, in the ESPN Thanksgiving tournament. Oh, and they paid North Texas to come into The Barn and beat them early in the non-conference schedule.

The end is near for Minnesota Gophers basketball coach Ben Johnson

Next up is Morgan State, in what might be the last chance Minnesota has to win a game this season. No, that is not sarcasm or hyperbole. In his 4th season as head coach at the University of Minnesota, Ben Johnson will be lucky to find one win on the 2024-25 Big Ten schedule.

That’s how bad this Gophers team is, and it’s why Ben will be fired by the end of this season. For his own sake, hopefully it happens sooner. We didn’t know it at the time but Ben was the worst hire Athletic Director Mark Coyle could have made, in the moment.

But… who is going to take over for Johnson, who’s 48-59 overall as Minnesota Gophers head basketball coach, 15-46 in the Big Ten? The program’s next leader will be tasked with saving an operation that is so badly “out of order”, there are questions as to whether or not it can be fixed at all.

But as it turns out, there are a lot of proven college coaches who already have reported interest in being the next U of M head coach. How big are the names? We’ll let you see the growing list of candidates, which is now up to five, and then you can be the judge.

Big names arise as candidates to replace Johnson

In Sunday’s Pioneer Press, longtime local insider and columnist, Charley Walters, named former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders as an expected candidate, should Johnson get the boot. He also mentioned Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, who has local ties, along with the headliner… 58-year-old Tom Crean, formerly the head coach at Georgia, Indiana and Marquette.

In fact, little birdies are telling Walters (a University of Minnesota alum) that the two-time Big Ten champ “would love to have the Minnesota job”. Saunders, Sweeney and Crean join the previously reported names, Niko Medved (Colorado State) and Craig Smith (Utah).

Two more names expected to receive consideration if the Gophers men’s basketball team makes a coaching change at season’s end: Ryan Saunders, the former Gopher from Wayzata who’s an assistant with the Denver Nuggets, and Sean Sweeney, the former University of St. Thomas and Cretin-Derham Hall star who’s the top assistant with the Dallas Mavericks.

Besides Colorado State head coach Niko Medved, the former Gophers team manager from Roseville, Utah head Craig Smith, who is from Stephen, Minn., is also expected to be considered. And word in coaching circles is that Tom Crean, the fiery former Georgia, Indiana and Marquette coach, would love to have the Minnesota job.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

Obviously, Ryan Saunders is best known for his failed head coaching stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he also played for the Minnesota Gophers from 2004 to 2006. Tom Crean started his very successful college coaching career at Marquette, who he took to a Final Four in 2002-03, with Dwyane Wade as his star player.

Gophers fans know Crean best for his run at Indiana from 2008-2017, where he made four NCAA Tournaments and won two regular season Big Ten championships. He also coached at Georgia, for Anthony Edwards’ one-and-done season. In his 22 years of collegiate head coaching, Tom Crean is 403-306.

Ben Johnson tenure devastating for U of M basketball

The Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball program is at the lowest point since the early 2000s, right after it was hit by some of the most devastating sanctions in college basketball history. Overzealous punishment that a then Final Four program never recovered from.

He was hired to keep Minnesota kids home, based on close personal relationships and deep-running ties within the MN high school basketball circuit. But immediately after he was hired, college athletics was taken over by Name, Image and Likeness. Pretty much overnight, personal relationships were no longer important.

Related: Local Insider Floats the “Logical Choice” for Next Gophers MBB Head Coach

Unfortunately, Johnson had no interest in fundraising NIL money, which turned out to be the death of his head coaching run with his hometown Minnesota Gophers. Most of the candidates listed above were available and interested in the when Ben Johnson was hired. So was Eric Musselman.

Karl’s also enjoying the game of basketball as much as anytime in his professional career. Last night, after putting up an easy 30 points and 8 rebounds in a win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, KAT sat down with NBA Game Time Live (NBA TV) and talked about just that.

One of the analysts on GameTime is Sam Mitchell, who played much of his career with the Wolves and coached the team during Towns’ rookie season (’15-’16). That’s the last time Karl enjoyed playing the game of basketball as much as he does right now. Don’t underestimate the effect Sam Mitchell had on Karl-Anthony Towns, or any of the other young Wolves (Wiggins, LaVine, etc), during that time. If you do, watch this clip of Towns appreciation for Mitchell. Sam Mitchell is left speechless buy KAT’s praise.

Karl-Anthony Towns left Sam Mitchell speechless last night. Said he hasn’t enjoyed basketball this much since Mitchell coached him as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/LQBCyYCOTw

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) March 17, 2022

Underrated, Underappreciated Sam Mitchell

When Sam Mitchell coached the Minnesota Timberwolves during that 2015-16 season, he was universally seen as a placeholder for whoever was going to be hired as the permanent replacement that offseason. Luring one of the NBA’s best free agent coaches wouldn’t be a problem because of all the young talent on that Wolves roster.

Sure enough, Glen Taylor handed the franchise keys to Tom Thibodeau that offseason, who turned around and traded Zach LaVine for Jimmy Butler just one year later. Zach and Karl are best friends and were even closer back then. Jimmy hated KAT. So it’s no surprise that Towns lost some of the joy he found in basketball during that time of his career.

In retrospect, we probably should have skipped the Thibs/Butler era. Leaving Sam Mitchell in place to nurture a much more patient rebuild may have been the better option. Not just because of his relationship with Towns and others, but because Mitchell was and is a great basketball and NBA mind. That’s something that shows every time he talks about the game.

No slight on Ryan Saunders

I don’t take KAT’s comments as a slight against Ryan Saunders. Karl-Anthony Towns lost his mom and other family members while Ryan was coaching the Minnesota Timberwolves. I’d imagine it was difficult for him to find joy in a lot of things during that time.

Yes, Ryan Saunders wasn’t ready to lead an NBA team when he was hired but the hiring was his fault. Taylor, then Rosas, put Ryan into a position that he was never going to be able to win. Now years removed from those difficult years, both on and off the floor, Karl-Anthony Towns seems primed for something special.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Timberwolves are perhaps the worst sports organization in America. That’s barely an exaggeration. Their incompetence over the years is laughable, so it only makes sense that this midseason coaching change would be a disaster too.

But, that doesn’t mean it was.

When Ryan Saunders was fired and replaced by a 51 year old white man, criticism should’ve been forecast. The NFL has the “Rooney Rule” just to avoid situations like this, where there might be a less than diverse hiring process.

On the surface

Why not give David Vanterpool a chance? He’s certainly earned it and the standard mid-season firing/hiring process would normally elevate a qualified assistant, to interim head coach for the remainder of this season. Nobody’s been promoted to head coach off another team’s bench since 2009 and that was a much different situation.

So yes, on the surface it’s easy to see why people were upset with how the Chris Finch hiring process went down.

How the hell do you not hire David Vanterpool and he’s right there on the bench… and has been in front office SUCCESSFULLY and on the front of a bench of a winning team SUCCESSFULLY (7 years) … and also has played a major role in the development of a dominant backcourt smdh!

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 22, 2021

Someone should tell him that might not be the best move.

Last night the Timberwolves played a game, fired their head coach, and then hired a new coach all in one evening, without giving their lead assistant @DavidVanterpool even a shot at the job. Here's why players like @Dame_Lillard & @CJMcCollum are so upset about that: pic.twitter.com/TnfPpIIGbB

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 22, 2021

But, the Timberwolves did nothing wrong when they hired Chris Finch, beyond forcing an awkward “The Bachelor” style private flight home from New York, for Ryan Saunders.

Finch was probably Rosas’ guy the first time around.

Chris Finch isn’t just the next random white assistant who Gerrson Rosas pulled out of his hat of prejudice. This has been in motion since Rosas was forced decided to hire Ryan Saunders as “permanent” head coach in 2019.

Finch was interviewed back then and finished runner-up to Saunders. Gersson Rosas can sell us whatever he wants about the previous hiring process but his quick trigger on Finch gives away Taylor’s involvement in the Saunders hiring back then. Ryan wasn’t Gerss’ guy, he was Glen’s guy. Gerss’ guy is Chris Finch and that’s clearly who he wanted all along.

Let’s talk David Vanterpool

David Vanterpool was brought in when Ryan Saunders was hired, to be the main coach on defense. I understand much of the Wolves defensive flaws are on the individual players. They’re bad at defense and there might not be a coach out there who can help.

But with that said, it’s tough to call Vanterpool a defensive mastermind given the numbers the Wolves have put up in his time here. In 2019-20 the Wolves had the 10th worst defensive rating and this year, with a new roster, the Wolves are the 9th worst. It’s entirely possible that Rosas has lost faith in Vanterpool, as a head coach. Maybe he never had it. We’ll never know.

At the end of the day, Saunders needed to be fired and if Rosas was going to hire Finch eventually, why waste half a season with Vanterpool as HC? The Wolves are a disaster and Rosas’ seat is getting warm. If he’s going to go down with this ship, he should get to hand pick his captain.

I get it, but Rosas has wanted Finch to be his coach for quite a long time. He finally got permission from Glen to do it, so he did.

Sure, Vanterpool is right there, but why waste another half season if Rosas knows who he truly wants? https://t.co/Q25BRbi6Uz

— Cooper (@CoopCarlson) February 24, 2021

Finch and Rosas go way back

The main reason Rosas was able to bring Finch in midseason was because of their lengthy history. The two of them started together way back in 2010, coaching the D-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a title. They then worked together in Houston and are now reunited in Minnesota. It’s likely that Rosas has always seen Finch as his future coach, should he ever run a team.

I appreciate that Gersson Rosas knows what he wants. Why give an interim false hope or allow time for your guy to get away? Timberwolves fans have waited a long time for this organization to be relevant again and this duo gives them a good chance.

NBA fishing for team to “make example of”

Overall it just seems like the NBA, and those around it, were looking for something like this to happen so they could bring attention to the lack of minority coaches in their league. The Timberwolves aren’t against bringing in a minority coach. Rosas is Latino and preaches diversity as much as anyone. Many members of the staff are minority, including his right hand man Sachin Gupta and the aforementioned Vanterpool.

The NBA certainly needs more minority coaches, but attacking the Minnesota Timberwolves front office of all teams, just doesn’t make sense and holds no weight.

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan

If you peruse around the sports world, you will recognize a narrative being pushed when hiring head coaches. The world wants us to believe that teams are best off finding a young and progressive mind that will better relate to younger players.

When the Minnesota Timberwolves fired Tom Thibodeau, the organization envisioned a revised culture and a youthful identity. They certainly accomplished that when they hired of Ryan Saunders, the youngest head coach in NBA history.

Gersson Rosas and the new-age Timberwolves front office was trying to lead the progressive movement. But anytime this franchise tries to be a leader, it usually ends in a nightmare instead.

Many felt Ryan Saunders wasn’t ready yet for the big time, which I’d agree with. Others felt Saunders was dealt a bad hand, only able to coach KAT and DLo a total of five games during his tenure. I’d agree with that as well.

But more importantly, Glen Taylor and Gersson Rosas failed to recognize what this team truly needed at the head coach position, which was experience and style.

The Timberwolves went 43-94 under Ryan Saunders (since Jan. 8, 2019). That is the 3rd-worst record in the NBA over that span, ahead of only the Knicks and Cavaliers.

Saunders only got 5 games with Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell playing together. pic.twitter.com/j1iJNlgiiV

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 22, 2021

Go younger they said…

Executives have become married to the idea that the closer in age the coach is to their players, the more relatable the environment. But reality fights back at that narrative. The Thunder and Grizzlies are currently the only two NBA teams with head coaches under the age of 40, in Mark Daigneault and Taylor Jenkins. In fact, less than half of the league’s coaches (12) are under the age of 50.

Going “young” is subjective. I agree, you don’t want to bring in a basketball dinosaur who hates the modern NBA game. But you also don’t want a 33-year-old who doesn’t have the experience and isn’t ready to raise a young talented team into its prime.

In hindsight, finding someone in the middle would’ve been ideal. Instead, Rosas and Taylor went with Saunders, which was asking too much of the young homegrown kid. He wasn’t ready and it showed.

Nuggets Story vs Wolves Story

A team I constantly think about, when tracking the trajectory of this Minnesota Timberwolves team, are the Denver Nuggets, who were in a similar position a few years back. In 2018, Minnesota eliminated Denver to clinch its first playoff berth in 17 years.

Think about how the Nuggets have transcended since that point and how the Wolves have digressed. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have solidified themselves as one of the best duos in basketball. Karl Towns and D’Angelo Russell have solidified themselves as injury prone. Above it all though, Mike Malone has brought experience and configured the right style to Denver.

Nikola joins Alex English and David Thompson as the only players in franchise history to be selected to three straight #NBAAllStar games! #MileHighBasketball https://t.co/LyjuhcjVXP

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) February 19, 2021

Take a look at the rosters around the association and you’ll find the Wolves have more talent on their roster than the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic. Yet, all five teams have a better record. Why?

Next up…

After the firing of Ryan Saunders I came away with two things. Saunders was in over his head at his age and certainly wasn’t given the most ideal situation to win in. The Wolves wanted to be progressive and flopped.

Now, the Minnesota Timberwolves turn to 51-year-old Chris Finch. A coach who won an NBA D-League Championship, a D-League Coach of the Year winner and an assistant in the NBA for 10 years.

We’ll see how hindsight plays out for him.

Stephen Strom | Minnesota Sports Fan

A couple hours after the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ryan Saunders lost to Tom Thibodeau and the New York Knicks, Saunders was fired by Gersson Rosas and immediately replaced by Chris Finch, an assistant out of Toronto.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have dismissed coach Ryan Saunders, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 22, 2021

The Timberwolves and Finch expect to have a multi-year deal finalized on Monday, sources tell ESPN. Minnesota plays Milwaukee on Tuesday.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 22, 2021

Hiring a coach off another staff during the season is uncommon, but Toronto wouldn't stand in the way of Finch's chance to become a head coach now. Finch had success as a G-League head coach, and has interviewed for several head coaching jobs in recent years.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 22, 2021

This has been a long time coming, and it appears Ryan has been on his way out the door for awhile now. Players have been talking about and defending Saunders’ job for weeks and now we know why.

The surprise came when Rosas immediately called Finch and hired him away from Toronto, something that is completely out of the norm for NBA teams. Normally, Gersson would have named an interim head coach already on the Wolves bench to finish the season, before conducting a full search in the offseason.

Instead, Finch was given a full-time, multiyear contract. It all happened so fast…

Who the hell is Chris Finch?

Buy all your Anthony Edwards, Malik Beasley, D'Angelo Russell, Jaden McDaniels, and Karl-Anthony Towns stock right now. https://t.co/gh0oWIwH4F

— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) February 22, 2021

Chris Finch was D-League Coach of the Year in 2010 for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Gersson Rosas was the Vipers GM.

Rosas also interviewed Finch for the Timberwolves job last year.

Finch had always been my presumed next-coach-in-Minnesota if Rosas were ever to make a move. https://t.co/D0o1GFwsAn

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 13, 2020

Chris Finch and Gersson Rosas have a bunch of history together. They spent time together in Houston, while Rosas was in the front office and Finch was an assistant coach. Finch even coached their G-League team (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) in 2010, with Rosas as his GM.

Since then, he has been a coach for the Nuggets (2016-17), the Pelicans (2017-20) and the Raptors this year, before being hired in Minnesota last night. It’s well-known around Timberwolves insiders that Finch was atop the shortlist of future coaching candidates Gersson would consider. As it turns out, he was the only one on the list. Read more about Finch HERE.

Nick Nurse, the head coach of the Raptors, was quoted saying this about Finch, who is known as one of the best offensive minds in all of the NBA. If you like offense (you do) then you’re going to like what Finch does with KAT and the rest of this talented Minnesota Timberwolves team.

“He got the most out of his talent. His teams played super hard. His teams played super hard. And he won. He won.”

Nick Nurse

The backlash

A lot of people seem to really like the Chris Finch hire. Others really don’t (most notably, Damian Lillard). But there are plenty of people just dealing with the shock of the abnormal. Again, hiring a coach off another team midseason is completely “outside the box” in the NBA.

How the hell do you not hire David Vanterpool and he’s right there on the bench… and has been in front office SUCCESSFULLY and on the front of a bench of a winning team SUCCESSFULLY (7 years) … and also has played a major role in the development of a dominant backcourt smdh!

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 22, 2021

Vanterpool, a current Wolves assistant, was the obvious choice as an instant replacement. But Rosas obviously knew who he wanted to hire and wasn’t willing to wait. If you’ve placed your trust in Gersson Rosas then you let him make this hire. If he knew who he wanted, then the sooner the better. It does make you wonder who hired Ryan Saunders in the first place, however…

Honestly, it can’t hurt to bring a fresh face into the mix. And I stand by that, no matter what Dame Lillard thinks about me.

He barely been apart of the organization https://t.co/ocToza9rI9

— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) February 22, 2021

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Timberwolves are the most frustrating franchise in Minnesota and it’s not really close. This especially holds true because of the heartstrings they’ve pulled on in the rare occasions they have been successful. In the mid-2000’s, this was a Minnesota Timberwolves town and Target Center was the hub of the winter night-life.

But since Kevin Garnett left, they’ve been nothing but an embarrassment to our state and to the NBA. We’re hopeful that the latest regime change can turn that around, but after night’s like Tuesday, hope still feels a long ways away.

Qtr 1-3: Wolves lead 90-80

Qtr 4: Grizzlies lead 34-13

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) January 14, 2021

Disaster 4th quarter

Minnesota had a 90-80 lead going into the 4th quarter of last night’s game vs the Memphis Grizzlies, after controlling play for the first 3/4 of the game. But before 3 minutes had ticked off the clock in that final period, a 10-point lead had evaporated into a 2-point deficit.

The Wolves forgot how to play defense and couldn’t figure out how to get into their offense when Memphis denied their point guards in the backcourt. It didn’t help that Karl-Anthony Towns sat on the bench until his team was down two points.

The most unfortunate part about that, is he seemed to be the only one ready to play the final quarter when it started.

apparently KAT was the only one ready to start the 4th last night… but he was on the bench. https://t.co/94Qud7cXb7 pic.twitter.com/XyJQP8QaWE

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) January 14, 2021

Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk

This team is never void of saying the “right things” before, during and after every loss… but when do words turn into action? When does “we need to play defense” turn into, “whoa, look at that Timberwolves defense”?

Ryan Saunders talked about more physicality down low but he continues to give Juancho Hernangomez all of the minutes at 4 and he literally hates physicality.

Where is Ed Davis? Didn’t we bring him in to provide that type of defense and mentality at power forward? Well, Ed’s been a coach’s decision ‘DNP’ for two of the last three games. He played 18 minutes vs the Spurs and the Wolves were +9 with him on the court. They won by 8 points that night.

So keep talking, Ryan. But, I’d maybe try “doing”. Reward guys for playing defense instead of rewarding Juancho for sucking at everything.

Ryan Saunders: “We got to be more physical. That’s a physical group over there. We got to be more physical plain and simple. Take pride when we’re guarding the ball. Take pride in protecting the rim.” https://t.co/mslOfn348x

— jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) January 14, 2021

Gersson Rosas deserves his share of blame too

This team knew they were entering the season with a huge void at power forward and now that spot is clearly being exposed night in and night out. Ryan Saunders and the players deserve plenty of blame for how things went last night and how they’ve gone for much of this season. But if you don’t have a 4-man capable of playing NBA basketball… wins can be hard to come by sometimes.

Everyone on Timberwolves Twitter and around beat-writer world is infatuated with PJ Tucker, who can play the 4. If he’s looking to win, I don’t know why he would want to come here so they’d better get a trade package ready that the Rockets can’t turn down.

But let’s be real, 35-year-old PJ Tucker isn’t going to save this team from itself. He, or another power forward who can play defense, would definitely help but an in-his-prime Kevin Garnett isn’t walking through the locker room door.

If the Timberwolves start playing and coaching like they’ve been talking for years, the wins will start coming. But eventually you have to walk the walk or the words mean nothing.

4th quarter vs Memphis Grizzlies

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Another blowout loss went in the record books for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, when they fell to the Washington Wizards at Target Center 130-109. It made for their 3rd-straight loss of 20+ points. That’s also the number of games they’ve gone without Karl-Anthony Towns, after he dislocated his wrist late vs the Jazz in game 2 of the season.

Fans are understandably frustrated with this team, who has gone from 2-0 with KAT, to another cinch lottery team without him. Because the trust for Gersson Rosas is so high around town and the top-end of this roster is all but set in stone, the fan animosity has to land somewhere.

On Friday night and into Saturday morning, it’s been aimed at Ryan Saunders.

Time to fire Saunders! Promote Vanderpool or hire Kenny Atkinson

— Kyle Marlow (@Kmarlow0713) January 2, 2021

I view this more as a Ryan Saunders problem.

— Sports Never Stops ???? (@DomFlournoyNBA) January 2, 2021

I’m gonna be done with Ryan Saunders as HC very, very soon…he was never the right hire. Love the human being, but he’s not ready for this kind of responsibility.

— All Things MN (@allthingsmn) January 2, 2021

Scapegoat Saunders

Look, I understand the need to blame somebody for the sorry excuse that the Minnesota Timberwolves currently call “basketball”. But if you were on the Ryan Saunders bandwagon before this stretch of three games, then I wouldn’t jump off until KAT returns.

Remember, this isn’t an organization that’s going to make Ryan Saunders the shot-caller on playing time and game plan decisions. He and Rosas clearly have a lot of the same visions, when it comes to the future of this franchise.

Operating the Minnesota Timberwolves is now a group effort, to the point of making “collaboration” a buzz word among fans and media. If you think Ryan Saunders had full control of anything, then you aren’t listening when they talk.

I’m not saying that Saunders is a puppet for Rosas. I’m saying that playing time, strategies and game-management are all discussed and worked out long before the Wolves hit hardwood. Ryan’s only job is to execute for 2.5 hours, what the entire organization has put together in the days/weeks/months leading up to tip-off.

Based on Gersson Rosas' answer, Ryan Saunders' job with the #Timberwolves seems safe. pic.twitter.com/x7MYWPATT5

— SKOR North (@SKORNorth) March 3, 2020

Too soon to tell.

In fact, Ryan has gotten the short end of KAT’s injury stick, since getting the permanent head coaching gig before the 2019-20 season. After coaching 42 games as interim HC during the 2018-19 season, Saunders has coached the Wolves for exactly 69 games (nice) on a permanent basis.

KAT has played in just 37 of them and almost all of those games were played without D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and obviously Anthony Edwards. I’m not saying that Saunders will be a great NBA head coach.

But clearly, it’s way too soon to tell… especially after a canceled 2019 season and the year-long COVID offseason.

KAT might be even better than we thought

Have you seen how bad this basketball team has been without Karl-Anthony Towns playing center? KAT frustrates me at times and I have clearly allowed that to cloud my judgement on what he brings to this team.

If all I had watched of this Timberwolves team, was the last three games, I’d tell you that God was the only thing that could bring them wins. So the fact that they were 2-0 with Karl, should tell you everything you need to know about just how good that man is and what he means to this lineup.

I might never again tweet something this stupid. The Minnesota Timberwolves need Karl-Anthony Towns as much as Christmas needs the first two Home Alone movies.

I definitely don’t think the Wolves need KAT to be good rn. https://t.co/4wovnB0asn

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) December 28, 2020

We will find out how good of a coach Ryan Saunders is, if Karl can get back in time for the Wolves to put together a run at this season’s expanded playoff bracket. If KAT doesn’t come back in time for that, then we’ll be looking at another year where the NBA draft lottery is the best part of the season.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan